The war has begun. Germany is marching to battle against France, and the French are calling in every able body available to ward off their foes. Enter Emile, a small-time man with a happy family life who is suddenly tossed into a warzone thanks to a strict conscription policy. Will he make it out the other side of this oppressive conflict alive...?

(Please note that, yes, there are a few items missing from the walkthrough. You can't really backtrack without plain starting over. Once I play through it again and find what I missed I'll update accordingly.)

Saint Mihiel Barracks - Emile

- After a touching intro scene you'll start off outside the Saint Mihiel Barracks. Check out your menu screen first and foremost. Here you can check out Historical Facts pertaining to the war, as well as the Diaries of the characters around whom the story revolves. Both will be updated periodically as you advance through the story.

- Head inside the Barracks. Once Emile (your PC) is outfitted, go through the opposite side of the Barracks and speak to the trumpeter beside the exit.

- Now for training. Proceed through the obstacle course, completing the commands of the officer. Using the grenades is a teensy bit tricky; try to aim for the chest of the dummy in front of you. Once you blow up the dummy, pick up the German Helmet it drops.

- At the end of the screen, check the right side of the flagpole for a Tinder Lighter, then raise the flag. Off to war.

Saint Mihiel Station - Emile

- Walk all the way to the right for a Historical Fact. Then pull the steam whistle near the station sign. This will send two soldier packing and expand the screen.

- You still need to save the grey-skinned dude on the left. Head right a ways. You'll find two bottles of Wine nearby; one, a lighter green in colour, is being drunk by a soldier. Another, dark green and red, is in a box. Grab the light green Wine and present it to the officer to the far right to move him out of the way.

- Before leaving, grab one wine bottle or the other and hurl it at the bell above the train's main compartment. A direct hit will drop a Stationmaster's Whistle down for you to grab.

- Keep walking right. There's a French flag in the foreground, flanked by rifles. Look beside the left heap of rifles for a Letter from a French Soldier sitting on the ground.

Emile watches a band do it stuff in Valiant Hearts.

- At the far right end of the train tracks is a band. You need to speak to the band members in the proper order. First is the drums; second, tuba; third, clarinet; fourth, trumpet.

- Once the band is playing a soldier standing in front of a ladder to your left will start dancing. You can now climb the ladder and get on top of the train.

- Walk to the right end of the train. You'll find a Pen sitting atop the train car.

- Walk left until you reach the train's engine. Pull the chain in the control compartment to scare away the last of the soldiers pestering the grey-skinned dude. Walk over and talk to him to leave the train station.

German Border - Emile

- Enemy territory. Head right. The march will soon turn into a mad dash. You need to avoid incoming enemy fire by staying out of the shadow of the artillery shells. This is easy at first, a bit trickier later on. It's generally better to plow ahead and try to get out from beneath a shadow rather than creeping back from it, but not always. The shells travel at different speeds so this will become a trial-and-error exercise.

Marne - Freddie

- Hey, that grey-skinned guy. Say hello to Freddie, a man on a warpath. You can get him started by checking the ground by the cart to your right. You'll find a hidden French Identification Tag.

- Walk right. After learning that a bridge needs to be destroyed, clip through the barbed wire blocking your way. Freddie already has wire cutters.

- Past some debris and more wire you'll find a heap of grenades. Look at the edge of the embankment you need to scale for a Gold Button from a French Uniform before grabbing a grenade. That done, hurl a grenade up and on top of the pile of sandbags to your right.

- Continue right. Eventually you'll reach a machine gun emplacement. Try to run past and the gunner will take you down. Grab a grenade from the nearby basket, sidle up to the edge of the bridge when the gunfire stops, and hurl the grenade up onto the sandbags above the gunner's position. A successful throw will bring a ladder down for you to climb. Climb up when the gunner's reloading.

- You'll find a pile of bricks atop the bridge's roof. Grab one and throw it behind the soldier standing guard at the base of the nearby ladder. It will lure him away from his post. Skitter down the ladder before he turns around again, and keep going to the base of the bridge.

- Immediately to your right upon reaching the bottom you'll find an HQMap in the reeds. Snag it and go left.

- There's a box of dynamite along the way. Grab one and use it on the gap in the line of dynamite to create a complete circuit. Then use the plunger to the far left to take out the bridge.

- Climb back up to the top of the bridge. You'll find a box of mortars. Grab one and hurl down and to the right, beside a box of dynamite. The explosion will create a path to the right.

- Walk right and back to ground level. As soon as you hit the dirt, explore the ground for German Cartridges.

Freddie prepares to charge through the trenches of Marne.

- There are bricks at the edge of a small cliff. Grab one and hurl it at the rope ladder to the left to bring it down. Climb on up.

- There's an unseen gunner to your right. Watch for his gunfire to stop via the picturebox window, then jump into the small trench nearby. From here you have to hop up and snip through the barbed wire on the right side of the trench whenever the gunner has stopped firing. Run through and drop into another trench when he's reloading.

- Grab a mortar from the box in this trench and hurl it up and over the gunner, intot he second floor of the building he's in. This will create a gap above him. Hurl a second mortar up here to take him out.

- Continue right, past a small cut scene, then carefully slip into a large building once a gunner on the roof is done firing.

- Head to the far right and bash through the wall. You'll find a box of wine inside. Use one bottle to bring down the ladder to the left, then grab another bottle and run to the far left, where there's a gap in the floor above you. Throw it up here to distract the soldier on the second floor. Slip up the ladder and bash him down from behind. Bash through the right wall and head outside briefly to find Embroidery on the ground, then turn back and go up the stairs in the middle of the floor.

- You're now on the third floor, beneath a pair of soldiers on the roof. Grab a fruit from the basket to your left, then bash through the window on the right. Hurl the fruit at the bell hanging from the roof to distract one of the guards. Climb up to the roof and knock the two guards out from behind.

- Check tbe pole the bell's hanging from for A Letter From a German Soldier, then approach and interact with the flag. That's it for Freddie for a little while.